Rob Ford drama invades Ontario’s cottage country

A pretty pair of purple and canary yellow flowers are still sitting in the middle of Bill Miller’s Muskoka bait and tackle shop, in the cardboard box they came in, because it’s been some kind of “crazy” week.

On Tuesday, he witnessed the now well-publicized arrest of a Bala woman, driving Mayor Rob Ford’s Escalade allegedly drunk. He has since fielded media interviews far and wide.

“I just happened to be at a certain place at a certain time,” said Mr. Miller, who likes people to call him by his first name. “It’s another saga in another chapter of Rob Ford. No matter what he does, it’s going to be in the news.”

On Friday, the private addiction treatment centre long-rumoured to be rehabilitating Mayor Ford confirmed he was, indeed, a patient.

GreeneStone Muskoka, which is a short drive from the location where Lee Anne McRobb was pulled over by police, said in a statement it was releasing the information with Mr. Ford’s consent and asked the public to respect the privacy of all patients.

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“We take our patient care and confidentiality very seriously and as a result will not be commenting further on this matter,” the statement read.

The confirmation came after eTalk Canada, CTV’s entertainment show, announced it had obtained a photo of the mayor in rehab.

Bracebridge’s Thomas Ludlow, who works for a landscaping company, was about a kilometre away from GreeneStone on Tuesday afternoon when he too became part of the Ford saga.

Mr. Ludlow said he was driving a pick-up truck on Highway 169, near Acton Island Road, when he came to a wide corner and saw a black Escalade with silver trim speeding towards him, in his lane.

He laid into his horn, but the driver continued coming right at him, so he swerved onto the shoulder. He managed to stop before going into a ditch and called 911. It was 2:32 p.m.

“I’ve never seen anyone drive like that. When I was honking, they made no attempt at all to move lanes to get out of the way. If I didn’t swerve it would have been a head-on collision and I swerved out of the way just in time,” said Mr. Ludlow, a recent student at Humber College who is home for the summer.

He couldn’t tell if the driver was a man or a woman, just that they had light hair.

“I distinctly remember the car accelerating as it passed me. Their engine was revving and the driver was set on going faster,” he said. “I definitely remember saying to the dispatch officer this driver was definitely intoxicated.”

A short time later, at 2:34 p.m., police say they pulled over Lee Anne McRobb, driving an Escalade that turned out to be Mayor Ford’s. She was charged with impaired driving and blowing over the legal limit.

Mr. Ludlow, who has given a statement to police, said investigators have since told him they caught the erratic driver.

The trail of drama that seems to follow Mayor Ford everywhere has now firmly rooted itself in tranquil cottage country.

Residents in the area’s sprinkle of towns and villages reacted with a mix of ambivalence over the ensuing attention, annoyance at the mayor for attracting it or annoyance at the media for paying it any mind.

Some wondered why he should be dragged into an incident, simply because it involved his vehicle. Others defended Ms. McRobb.

Her sister has said she has never been in trouble and friends describe her as a “good girl” and a good mother who enjoys the outdoors and yoga.

“You won’t get people saying much around here,” said one man who declined to give his name.

“We’re like family here,” he said. “Wherever [Rob Ford] goes, it’s a mess.”